Future of colleges and universities

[Gardnr]

College is required to be a RN. And the continued education is not cheap so we bear costs for the entirety of our careers.

Hubster is in IT and also college required. His continued education makes mine look super cheap.

There are many services we all require that do mandate college education so I sure hope enough survive.

And remember, much trade education occurs in colleges via their Voc Ed programs. Our college had to close it's CDL program 4y ago. 6 applicants for 30 slots and that doesn't mean they all met pre-quals.

[pinkytoe]

One of my nieces got an MA in a water management field, quit that, bought a farm, raised hogs for a while and then decided to become a welder. She now makes a good living as a welder and is raising a family too...on the farm. With the Tx weather fiasco going on now, plumbers are in huge demand.

[catherine]

With the Tx weather fiasco going on now, plumbers are in huge demand.

Plumbers are always in huge demand. When my "portly" plumber balked at doing a job in my crawlspace, he told me, "you need a skinny plumber." My answer was: "It's hard enough to get any plumber up here--now you want me to find a skinny one??"

[pinkytoe]

When DH was young, one of his first job's was as a plumber's helper. After a few stints cleaning the drains at a funeral home, he decided not to go into that field.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Plumber maybe, welder is the type of job that you'd be competing with illegal immigrants, as that's whose doing most welding in the construction industry. But maybe not somewhere rural. That's the thing, the only advice most young people really receive are broad generalities, whether it's "go to college", or "learn to code", or "go into medicine there are always jobs there", or "take up a trade, lots of demand in the trades". Whatever the trend du jour is. But the ins and outs of the realities not so much. Like not all trades are really going to get you where you want to go. And I'm hard pressed to see switching the generality from "go to college" to "take up a trade" as much of an improvement.

[SteveinMN]

Plumber maybe, welder is the type of job that you'd be competing with illegal immigrants, as that's whose doing most welding in the construction industry.

When I was in IT, we were constantly compared for efficacy against our "co-sourced" (contracted) colleagues in India and Vietnam. I have heard of hospitals that farm out routine X-ray readings to radiologists in other countries (the "film" is digital now; it can be shipped anywhere immediately). Those groups are not composed of undocumented immigrants but the essential effect is the same. Even specialized training/a degree isn't necessarily enough any more.

Like not all trades are really going to get you where you want to go. And I'm hard pressed to see switching the generality from "go to college" to "take up a trade" as much of an improvement.

I don't think it should be a shift so much as an allowance. Allow for the idea that, for some people, the specialized training of a trade is a better career path than getting a degree in some field or another. College is still fine if that's where one's goals take them. But skills like plumbing and diesel mechanics and phlebotomy are needed and will be hard to outsource for a while yet. Jobs like thoe are a valuable option for many who otherwise end up talked out of doing something quite viable for them because "everybody" should get a college degree.